Evan Ramseur Reed

Evan

(Hebrew origin means: God is Gracious; Celtic origin means: Young Warrior)

Born October 19, 2010 9:42am

7lbs 7oz and 19.5 inches long

Well, if you haven't heard already, our little man was born yesterday morning at 9:42am. After delivering Emerson wreaked permanent havoc on my body, every doctor I have seen over the past year said a C-Section for this delivery was necessary. So, a C-Section it was.

Typically, I think I tend to believe I am more hard core than I actually am. My thoughts on having a c-section were no exception. So, I was genuinely surprised to discover that I was kind of a wimp when it came to the c-section. I started to panic after they made me drink this nasty stuff that is supposed to neutralize the acid in your stomach. Then when they began to pump me full of drugs after not eating for a while, I really started to come unglued. More than likely most of the people around me didn't notice that I was freaking out, but on the inside I definitely was. Most of my thoughts went something like, "I can't do this." "We can never have more children." "There has to be another way to get this kid out." "Why do I feel like I am dying?" Keep in mind these were my thoughts BEFORE I ever even got the epidural.

I pretty much stayed in quasi-panic mode throughout the surgery. Especially when I asked the nurse anesthetist why I was having sharp pains in my chest and she responded, "Oh it's probably just because your uterus is outside of your body right now. Once they put it back in you'll feel better." Very comforting. Anyway, she eventually gave me some drugs that helped me relax which turned out to be a good thing because from the second little Evan was born it was obvious everything was not ok.

There was a brief moment of joy when the doctor first saw Evan's head and said "He has a ton of black hair," and everyone cheered. A few seconds later when they pulled him out of my body there was silence, no baby crying, no cheering, just nurses and doctors whispering. Every now and then Evan would try to get a little cry out and the nurses would whisper more. There was no shouting of stats or cheers of "He looks great." All that was said was, "It seems he has some fluid in his lungs." Then they whisked him by my face, let me kiss his soft perfect cheeks, and then he was gone...off to the Neonatal Care Unit.

And he has not left the NCU since. Because I had a c-section, I was not able to get out of bed for 12 hours after surgery, so it was late last night before I was able to get to the NCU and really get good look at my baby. He is absolutely precious. He looks JUST like his daddy (which is good since Garrett is freakishly handsome). He has so much jet black hair, it's amazing. His hair and coloring make him look like a little baby Latino Garrett...I love it.

Apparently it is common for c-section babies to have a lot of fluid in their lungs since most babies have the chance to expel that fluid while they are in the birth canal. Most of the babies that experience this problem are able to get rid of the fluid within the first 4 hours of life. Evan had such a substantial amount of fluid in his lungs, that this has not been the case with him. The neonatologist says that Evan has made tremendous progress since yesterday but still has a ways to go. So, when we leave the hospital on Friday our little man will not be coming with us. Of course this makes us sad but at the end of the day, we just want him to breathe with ease. We are both dying to hold him and kiss him....if they can wean him off the oxygen we will get our chance. I'm also dying for Emerson to be able to meet him. I feel blessed to know that I will get to experience all of these things in due time.

Thanks so much for all of the prayers and support. I wish I could get in touch with everyone personally to say thank you. Hopefully once we get everyone home and healthy, I will be able to do just that.